Wear preventer for drill-pipe



Dec. 12, 1933.

J. J. FERLN WEAR PREVENTER FOR DRILL-PIPE Filed Oct. 17, 1927 IIIII\ IIIII vdrnwlillllllllIuwllltlwrlilnlv Patented Dec. 12, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE McMahan, deceased, and one-half to E. L. Richardson, Whittier,v Calif.

Application October 17, 1927. Serial No. 226,601

6 Claims. (Cl. 308-4) This invention relates to well-drilling equipment. In the oil-producing industry it is common practice to use rotary equipment which employs a rotary bit for Vsinking a hole. This rotary bit is attached to the lower end of a string of drill-pipe which extends upward through the Well to a point above the surface of the ground. The drill-pipe is rotatedby means of a rotary machine located on the floor of the derrick of the A well. `The drill-pipe consists of stands of pipe which are connected together by tool-joints. Each stand of pipe is about eighty feet long and consists of four lengths ofpipe which are attached together by ordinary sleeve-couplings. When the drill-pipe is withdrawn from the well it is broken at the tool-joints. Wells are almost always crooked and the drill-pipe, usually the tool-joint portions thereof, will engage the side of the well and a friction will result .which causes wear on the joints.

A It is an object of this invention to provide a device adapted to be installed von the drill-pipe for protecting the pipe and the joints from frictional contact with the walls of the well.

' vice comprises a collar which is secured about the drill-pipe adjacent a tool-joint which the device is to protect. Owing to the great pressure with which the device is forced against the well casing, itfrequently Vhappens that the device is caused to rotate upon the drill-pipe. When this happens, the set screw or other securing device will cut a ridge in the drill-pipe, thus weakening it greatly. Y

It is another object of my invention to provide a protecting `device which is prevented from rotating upon a drill-pipe carrying the device.

It is sometimes practice to carry a well-casing in the well during drilling. When this is done there is also considerable wear lon the wellcasing by engagement of the tool-joint therewith. The wear on a well-casing is often so great that a hole is worn therein which will permit water to enter the well. This is very detrimental to the wellsince the water may mix with the oil and form an objectionable emulsion. It is very difficult to discover water-leaks, and many cases A common form of drill-pipefprotecting de-r Referring' to the accompanying drawing in which my invention is illustrated:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing the invention installed on a drill-pipe in a Well.

Fig. 2 is a View taken substantially as indi- 60 cated by the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, a portion of the protector being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on the line 3-3'of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the protector, 65 per se, showing the parts ready to be assembled. Y

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the protector taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

' Referring to Fig. 1, the well 11 has a well- 70 casing 12 installed therein. Extending through the well 11 is the drill-pipe` 13 which is only fragmentarily shown. It should be understood that the upper end of the drill-pipe 13 extends through a rotary machine at the surface of the groundby means of which it is rotated, and that at the lower end of the drill-pipe 13 is a cutter whereby the well 11 is drilled. The drillpipe 13 'has tool-joints 14 and sleeve-couplings 15 Vwhich connect pipe-members 16 together. 80 The tool-joints 14 differ from the sleeve-couplings 15 in that the parts of the former are adapted to be easily separated so that the stands of pipe may be readily broken apart when the drill-pipe is withdrawn from the well. The tooljoints are of a slightly larger dmmeter than the couplings 15. In the claims appended to this description I shall refer to joints. It should be understood that the term join is to be comprehensive of either the tool-joint or the `coupling. My invention is indicated at 19 in Fig. 1, the details of the invention being illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5.

Referring to these figures, the invention consists of two sections or halves 20 and 21. Each 95 half 20 or 21 is provided with a tenon 22 at one edge thereof and a mortise 23 at the other edge thereof. When the two halves are assembled, the tenons 22 extend into the mortises 23. When the parts are assembled, they cooperate to provide a cylindrical opening 24 through which one of the pipe members 16 of the .drillpipe 13 extends. For the purpose of locking the parts in assembled position cylindrical openfings 25 are provided in the halves 20 and 21. 10i these openings extending through one of the tenons 22 and through projections 27 which extend on opposite sides of one of the mortises 23. Extended through these openings 25 is a cylindrical pin 28. Formedthrough the other tenen 22 and through the projections 27, which extend on opposite sides of the other mortise 23, is a tapered opening 30. Adapted to be placed in the tapered opening is a tapered pin 31. In assembling the parts on the pipe-member 16 they are placed in substantially proper position, and the cylindrical pin 28 is then installed. After this, the tapered pin 31 is driven into place. size that the halves 20 and 21 willV be made to grip the pipe-member 16 when the tapered pin.

31 is driven home.

Each of the halves 20 and 21 has an inner body portion 35 which is'preferably formed of a hard material of high strength such as steel, and an outer shoe portion 36 which is preferably formed of a soft material such as bronze. The shoe portions 36 are integrally united with the body portions 35 as by brazing. The outerdiameter of the united body portions 35 of the halves 20 and 21`is of less diameter than the couplings 15 or the. tool joint 14, while` the united shoes 36 have a greater outside diameter than that of either the couplings 15 or tool-joint 14 so that, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, the shoes 36 contact the casing 12 so that the couplings 15` and tool-joints 14 rotate in spaced relation from the casing and are thus protected against wear. f

When the protector 19 is assembled, semi-annular channels 37 formed in the outer surfaces of. the shoes 36 are disposed end to end to provide annular channels 33 extending around the protector 19. The channels 38 are of such depth that their bottoms are of `the same diameter as the outside diameter of a joint adjacent to which that protector 19 is assembled upon the drill-pipe 13. These channels 38.thus provide a means for informing the operator when any of the protectors 19 have been worn down until its diameter no longer exceeds that of the jointA which it is intended'to protect. This information is gained by observing each protector 19 as the drill-pipe is withdrawn from the well. If a protector 19 still has the channels 38 visible on its outer surface, the operator lknows that the outer diameter of this prot ctor is suflicient to protect the joint adjacent thereto. Whereas, if the outersurface of any protector 19 is smooth the operator knows that this protector 19 must be replaced.

In joint protectors previously devised, the protector hasv been provided with set-screws which are adapted to engage the drill-pipe and prevent the rotation'Y of the protector on the pipe. vThese set-screws, however, have proved quite unsatisfactory as the torque. placedrupon each protector 19 tending to .make it rotate upon the drill-pipe 13 is considerable, owing tothe friction between the v.casing 12 and thev shoes 36. It is very .important that this rotation be prevented as, when the protectors 19 rotate upon the drill-pipe 13, the set screw or other securing device-wears a channel in the outer surface of the drill-pipe which causes weakness at this point. The means which I provide for preventing the rotation z oi the protectors 19 upon' the drill pipe 13 are extremely simple and include the formation, in the inner surface of the body portion 35 of the protector half r20, cfa pair of recesses 40 having spirally disposed bottom walls 41. Disposed in the recesses 4i) are'curved wedges 42 having teethv 43 formed on their inner surfaces and teeth 44 formed on their outer surfaces.

The cylindrical opening 24 is of such a In the digging of the well, the drill-pipe 13 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 45, as shown in Fig. 2. When one of the protectors 19 contacts the casing 12, the friction between the protector and the casing tends to stop the rotation of the protector with the drill-pipe 13. In other words, this friction tends to cause a relative rotation between this protector 19 and the drill-pipe 13. When such a relative rotation commences, the teeth 43 of the wedges 42 dig into the outei` surface of the drill-pipe 13 causing the wedges 42 to be moved toward the left in the recess 49. Such movement only forces the teeth 43 farther into the outer surface of the drill-pipe 13 so as to increase the friction between this protector 19 and the drill-pipe 13 tending to prevent arotation of the protector on the drill-pipe. When the friction between this protector 19 and the well casing 12 is removed asV by the withdrawal of the drill-pipe 13 from the well 11, the wedges 42 are retained in their advantageous positions in theirrecesses 40 so vas to maintain the teeth 43 in tight gripping relation with the outer surface of the drillpipe 13.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a rotary drill stem having an enlarged joint: an annular base member surrounding said drill stem; gripping means disposed between said member and saidv drill stem to materially increase the frictional resistance to the turning of said member in a given direction upon said stem when saidY turning commences; and an annular anti-friction shoe mounted on said member to extend radially therefrom beyond the outer surface of said drill stein joint for preventing said joint rubbing against a wall of the well when said drill stem is rotated.

2. In combination with a rotatable drillstem having an enlarged joint: an annular base member surrounding said drill stem; gripping means movable between said member and said drill stem to materially increase the frictional resistance to the turning of said member in a givendirection upon said stem when saidn turning commences; and an annular anti-friction shoe mounted on said member to extend radially therefrom beyond the outer surface of said drill stem for preventing said joint rubbing against a wall of the well when saidl drill stem is rotated.

3. In combination with a rotary drill stem having an enlarged joint: an annular base member surrounding said drill stem, there being a cavity `in said member having a spiral wall; an element shiftable in said cavity between said drill stem and ksaid wall to materially increase thefrictional resistance to the turning of said member in a given direction upon said drill stem when said turning commences; and an annular anti-friction shoe mounted on said member to extend radially therefrom beyond the outer surface of said drill stem joint for preventing said joint rubbing against a wall of the well when said drill stem is rotated.

4. The combination of a drill-pipe and an anti-friction collar, said collar comprising a cylinder including two separate members, means for holding said separate members in positions Ato form a cylinder, a cam groove on the inner face of said cylinder, a dog in said cam groove,

vand means whereby said dog is caused to grip said pipe v upon a rotation of said collar and thereby clamps said collar securely on said pipe.

5. In combination with a rotary drill-pipe having an enlarged joint, Va wear preventer surrounding said drill-pipe, said wear preventer comprising an annular base element and an annular shoe of relatively soft material surrounding the same and including two separate members with means for holding the same in position to form a cylinder, a cam groove provided on the .inner face of the wear preventer, a dog in the cam groove and means whereby said dog is caused to grip said rotary drill-pipe upon relative rotation thereof and thereby clamps the wear preventer and its shoe securely on said pipe, the diameter of the wear preventer being greater than that of the tool joint whereby frictional engagement of the annular shoe of soft material of said wear preventer will cause slight rotation thereof when engaged by the well wall to thereby increase the frictional engagement between the dog and the pipe during the rotation of the pipe in the drilling operation.

6. The combination with a string of drill-pipe having an enlarged joint and adapted for rotation in an oil well, of a wear preventer arranged for securement on said drill-pipe, said Wear preventer comprising: an annular base including a plurality of arcuated pieces secured together at their ends to form a complete annular base; a wedge positioned between said annular base and said drill-pipe, said Wedge having the function of gripping said annular base and said drillpipe for preventing said wear preventer from rotating on said drill-pipe; and a relatively soft member carried by said annular base and extended outward from said drill-pipe beyond the limit of said joint, said relatively soft member preventing said drill-pipe and said joint from engaging the Wall of said well.

J OHN J. FEELIN. 

